Past Demons
by Shadow Wolfboy
Summary: Shadow the Hedgehog has always considered himself a loner. However, after a humorous accident and then a more serious one, the hedgehog finds a new meaning in life after his past comes back to him. Not my best summary, but I worked hard on the story, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Well, here is a brand new story I thought up. I hope you enjoy it. I LOVE Shadow the Hedgehog, in all honesty, I like him better than Sonic. :) But anyways, I'd like to thank TheWhyteRabbyt for her well appreciated help and her fic 'On Mobius' which helped inspire this fanfic. That and a jar of Nutella helped ****inspire this, I'm not kidding. **

**I own the storyline, however SEGA owns the characters. The setting 'Big City' was created by TheWhyteRabbyt and is used with permission. The songs belong to their respective bands.**

**lol So anyways, Thanks so much for all your help Whyte! This one's for you! Hope you enjoy it!**

It was just any other day at Sonic's house, loud, boisterous, busy... Parties weren't very high on Shadow's list of favorite things to do, he'd much rather be on the gun range, polishing his sharp-shooting. Either that, or seeking solace in a quiet places where he could sit, be alone, and think.

For lack of a better term, anywhere where the blue idiot wasn't.

Sonic was busy with bragging how he had struck the final blow, much to the chagrin of his friends. It had been over a week since Eggman's latest defeat at the hands of Sonic and Co. After everyone had recovered from their injuries, Shadow included, Sonic proposed a party to celebrate. Cream and Cheese were busy sampling the sweets, offering their opinion to eachother of what could be done to make it better. They had done most of the cooking, and the finger foods they were currently consuming, Amy had bought from the bakery in Big City. Amy, speaking of which, was true to her usual self, boasting about Sonic's brave achievements during the fight while not-so-subtly flirting with him. The young girl couldn't really take a hint, and if Shadow wasn't so bored out of his mind, he would have told her straight up that Sonic wasn't interested and she should look elsewhere. Though if he did that, she could get the wrong impression that he was jealous. Which was impossible, he had trained himself to keep his emotions locked up in the back of his mind, focus only on the mission, the mission parameters and getting the mission done by the book. He vowed to never let anyone inside his heart ever again, due to that fateful day with Maria...

He died the day Maria died.

All that was left, was true to his namesake, a shadow of the person he used to be. That is, if Shadow had cared to let people know of his past pain and failures. He didn't, he wouldn't allow anyone inside, to see his true self. Shadow knew that whoever he would grow close to, they would end up getting hurt or worse. It'd happened to him once, it was sure to happen again. But he would never give anyone the chance, it was way too risky.

Rouge the bat was also doing her own flirting with Knuckles, who was also trying to find an excuse for him to get away. He said something about 'checking on the Master Emerald' and quickly made his leave. Rouge, true to her personality, wasn't going to be brushed aside and quickly followed him. Princess Sally was talking to trying to get Blaze, the lilac female cat, to try some of the foods. The lilac cat politely declined quietly and continued sipping her tea. That was another thing, Shadow didn't really care for the food served here, he'd much rather have some M.R.E.'s. Despite most people hating those things, Shadow found them quite tasty. Although, one thing he did like was coffee. Either straight black or with some cinnamon, or however the waitress at the coffee shop made it. He had no idea, whatever the 'special' that she had always made for him, that's how he liked it.

Letting out a half-sigh half-growl, he turned and began heading for the kitchen to see if Sonic had any coffee. As energetic as he was, the blue idiot was sure to have some. Letting the door swing shut behind him, Shadow was relieved that the noise was toned down significantly in the kitchen. Opening the pantry, he found an assortment of 'quick-fix' meals, also, he found about ten-tons of canned chili. No doubt the fridge would have been filled with hotdogs.

"There it is..." Shadow muttered to himself as he picked up the can of coffee. As he started to pour the ground coffee into coffeemaker, he shut it and leaned against the counter. He pulled out his phone and selected 'Shuffle' and put his earbuds in, closing his eyes.

'I Am (All Of Me)' by Crush 40 started playing and Shadow let his head bob a little to the beat as he opened one eye to look at the coffee, halfway done. Really wishing he had brought a few M.R.E.'s, Shadow started rummaging through Sonic's pantry again and retrieved a curious jar marked 'Nutella'.

"The hell is this?" He asked himself, gazing over the jar. Reading that it was a 'Hazelnut Spread with Skim Milk & Cocoa'. He shrugged, opening it up and grabbed a spoon from the utensil drawer and spooned some out, tasting it. His eyes widened and he checked the back, reading 'Ingredients: Sugar, Palm Oil, Hazelnuts, Cocoa, Skim Milk, Reduced Minerals Whey (Milk), Lecithin As Emulsifier (Soy), Vanillin: An Artificial Flavor.' Whatever the hell all that crap was, it was damn good! "I'll just buy Faker another jar."

He began digging into the jar was gusto, temporarily forgetting his manners as he wanted more of the delicious food. How come he'd never heard of this stuff before? It tasted real sweet, yet it had the kick of chocolate to it. Almost like the various coffees he had tried at the coffeeshop. As he ate a large spoonful, his mouth was suddenly gummy, he attempted to swallow, but it was next to impossible. He set the jar down on the table, coughing as he tried to swallow, his tongue not working right. He smacked a fist to his chest, coughing more as he leaned over trying his best not to gag. He would lose some 'cool points' if he had soiled Sonic's kitchen floor. The blue idiot wouldn't let him hear the end of it if he found out Shadow threw up. He pulled out his earbuds and set his phone down, attempting for the millionth time to swallow. He tried to drink some water, but that only helped slightly. He swore lowly as the coffee wasn't done yet.

"Shadow, what's wrong?" His head whipped up and he saw Blaze the cat entering, the door shutting behind the lilac cat.

"...Demon... in a fucking can!" Shadow choked out, pointing at the jar.

"What are you...?" Blaze began, then let out a laugh as she saw what he had eaten. "You're choking on this? Didn't you know that swallowing a large mouthful can do that to you?"

"Obviously... not!" Shadow glared. "What the... hell do I do?"

"Drink some milk." Blaze suggested simply.

Shadow ran faster to the fridge than Blaze had ever seen the black hedgehog move. Throwing the fridge open, he grabbed the milk and practically downed half the gallon, gasping for breath as he set it back, capping it up and shut the fridge. Resting his hands against the fridge, he tried to catch his breath.

"Do you want me to put this 'demon' away?" Blaze giggled, holding up the jar. Shadow nodded his head vigorously. Blaze walked over to the pantry and put it up. "Think Sonic has enough chili?"

"...Faker...really loves that slop, remember?" Shadow replied, regaining his gruff composure. He crossed his arms, leaning against the counter again putting his earbuds back in and began listening, now 'Lost (Acoustic Version)' by RED started playing. He clenched his hands into fists, Shadow had completely forgotten he had had the song...

"What are you listening to?" Blaze asked curiously, stepping closer to him, leaning against the counter next to him. Without permission, she took an earbud out and put it in her ear, listening.

Can I be dreaming once again?

I'm reaching, helpless, I descend.

You lead me deeper through this maze.

I'm not afraid...

I'm lost in you!

Everywhere I run...

Everywhere I turn, I'm finding something new.

Lost in you...

Something I can't fight.

I cannot escape, I could spend my life...

Lost in you...

Shadow was about to say something, but was cut off by Blaze. "This is a nice song... It sounds awful sad though..."

Shadow said nothing, training his eyes to the floor. He decided against scolding her for doing something so trivial, in all honesty he felt... different when he listened to the song and with Blaze so close to himself. Maybe it was the acoustics invoking a sense of sorrow inside him... Shadow couldn't be sure...

"...I must go." Shadow said abruptly, bringing out a Chaos Emerald. "Chaos Control!"

After the flash of green light as he didn't even say goodbye, Blaze stood alone and the coffee was done. She sighed, taking the coffee and setting it aside, maybe the others would like some. She full well knew that despite how tough Shadow tried to make himself appear, there were cracks. Underneath the hardened exterior lay a heart, he just guarded it so well. Was there something that happened to him to cause him to cut himself off emotionally from everyone? Maybe Rouge would know, they worked together at G.U.N. afterall. She ran over everything she knew about the black hedgehog and then a nameless fear awoke in her heart as she realized something.

She barely knew him, if anything at all besides his name.

The entire time that he'd been with the group, he had always been the loner, not letting anyone in. Whenever a get-together occurred, Shadow had always been alone. He'd be by himself, arms crossed in his (as everyone else said) 'emo corner'. It was either that, or he didn't even show up at all whenever people made plans. Even the lilac cat wondered why he bothered coming if he didn't like being there. Blaze thought that since Shadow was the way he was, she figured that the hedgehog thought of them as coworkers, not even friends. For some reason, that hurt her. She gripped at her necklace, lost in thought. Why did he shut himself off from everyone? It wasn't healthy to keep emotions bottled up, if he wasn't speaking to anyone. Hiding emotions was one of the easy and worst ways to destroy oneself, Blaze knew, as she had seen it happen to many of the people she knew back in the Sol dimension.

However, as she left the kitchen, she saw that all whom remained were Sonic, Amy, and Sally. She felt a little sad that Cream didn't come say goodbye, the rabbit was her best friend afterall. Though it was a long battle and Cream had actually helped out. She may have been tired, so Blaze didn't blame her for leaving without saying goodbye.

"Where's everyone else?" The lilac cat asked the chipmunk princess.

"They left." Sally replied, her brow suddenly furrowing in confusion. "Where's Shadow?"

"...He left too." Blaze replied, rubbing her arm nervously. "He seemed down, and just suddenly up and left."

"Did something happen between you two?" Sally inquired.

"No. He doesn't like parties remember? I guess that's another contribution to it." Blaze shrugged, then she gave a yawn feeling suddenly fatigued. "Well, I'm gonna head home and hit the hay. I'm tired."

"Ok, g'night." Sally smiled. "You want me to drive you home?"

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks anyway. Night Sally." Blaze gave a small smile in thanks. She bid Sonic and Amy farewell and left.

As she walked down the moonlit path, as Sonic had secluded his house in the forest due to wanting a (strange enough for his fast living) peaceful living, her thoughts were lost to that small exchange between Shadow and herself. No matter what she thought of, it always went back to Shadow. That, and the song kept replaying in his head. His reaction to the song allowed her to gleam into the part of him that he didn't want anyone to see, he felt vulnerable. That was it. He kept himself emotionally distant and refused to open up anyone due to feeling as if that would make him weak. She would have to talk to him tomorrow, see if she could get him alone and talk things out. If he wanted to talk, that is...

She looked up as she finally broke through the tree-lines and stepped onto the road leading to Big City, she then realized that she had been looking at the ground consumed with her thoughts as she walked, and saw a silhouette shaded against the moonlight on a hill to her right. The form seemed familiar, so she began up the hill and discovered that it was Rouge the Bat, knees pulled up to her chest, hugging them as she looked at the moon.

"...Rouge?"

The bat turned at the sound of her name, patting the seat next to her on the stone bench she sat on. Blaze accepted the gesture and sat down, joining Rouge in gazing at the ctiy below, as the lilac feline just now realized that the other end of the hill was a cliff overlooking the city. Blaze eyed the cliff nervously, then shut her eyes tightly, trying to will away the sickness building up in her stomach. She then made herself look up into the starlit sky, taking a deep breath as the slightly coldness of the air chilled her and began soothing her.

"First off, I don't like heights..." She said quietly, trying to make conversation. Silence, unless it was when Blaze was spending some time alone, was a bit too much for the feline. It unnervered her. "I don't think I'll ever get used to it."

"I understand, hun." Rouge said, bumping Blaze gently with her shoulder, giving a comforting smile. "I used to be afraid of heights too."

"Really?" Blaze asked in disbelief and Rouge nodded. Out of all the people who could have been afraid of heights, the feline had not expected Rouge to be one. She could fly afterall and this new fact that she used to be afraid of heights as well was baffling. "How did you get over it?"

"I think of something completely different, it helped me overcome my fear. And that something 'completely different' used to be me imagining all the heists I could have pulled off. But now, since I'm a spy for G.U.N., that something else is Knuckles." Rouge sighed, and Blaze could have sworn she saw hearts in her eyes. A bit perturbed, Blaze scooted away an inch.

"I...I see." The feline said, frowning as she stared at the grass swaying in the night breeze.

"So why are you here?" Blaze asked her.

"Nothing, just wanted some time alone." Rouge replied.

"Oh, sorry. Lemme guess, you want me to leave now, right?" Blaze said, standing up.

"Nah, it's fine, honey. Take a load off and sit, I'm not that rude." Rouge said, and the feline did so.

No matter what, all Blaze could think about was Shadow, he just couldn't leave her mind no matter how hard she focused on something else. As cliche as it was, she couldn't banish him from her mind whatsoever, he consumed her thoughts. No matter what she thought of, it always came back to him...

Sighing, she opened her palm, creating a small orb of flame and gazed at it. Attempting to distract herself, she expanded the orb into a ring, letting it spin on an axis then letting the ring spin wildly as if falling through the air. Then Blaze separated the ring into three small orbs, letting it spin in a circle, then stopped it banishing the thought that it looked like Shadow when he used his spin dash. The orbs now formed the points of an invisible triangle.

"So tell me, why're you thinking of Shadow?" Rouge asked with a sly wink.

"W-What?" Blaze asked, a light blush coloring her pale cheeks and the fire she had conjured up dispersed immediately. Could she read minds? "H-How did you know I was thinking about Shadow?"

"You just told me." Rouge said with a smirk.

Damn... she was good.

"...Do you have a crush on him?" Rouge asked and Blaze's face grew redder. "Come on, admit it. I won't tell anyone, it would be just between us girls."

"That's... That's not it..." Blaze began, bringing her knees up to her chest, hugging them. "He seemed really down earlier. I was going to talk to him, maybe see if I could help with whatever was bringing him down, but he teleported after saying he had to go."

"Yeah, Shadow will do that to you." Rouge chuckled.

"No, I mean..." Blaze sighed. "When I really thought about it. I don't know anything about Shadow other than his name. I'd ask him, but for obvious reasons, I decided against it. Do you... know anything about what could be ailing him?"

Rouge was silent for a long minute, staring at the moon. "...I can hear him in his sleep whenever I got to the fridge for a midnight snack. A girl named 'Maria'. Every other night, he apparently has a nightmare and wakes up with a scream. I always pretended to be asleep in my room, 'cuz I knew even if I did get up and ask him what was wrong, he wouldn't answer."

Blaze's eyes widened, at the most Shadow only raised his voice to yell, but... screaming? And in emotional pain to boot, that... she couldn't even begin to describe what she felt when she learned this.

"...Who's... Maria?" the feline asked, but the bat shook her head.

"I don't know." Rouge admitted, frowning. "I never asked. I knew he wouldn't give me an answer either way."

"I see..." Blaze stared at her feet. "What does he do when he's not at work with G.U.N. and saving the world?"

"He's holed up in his room. I can hear him playing music from his laptop, but that's about it. He may be doing some kind of work on his laptop, I can't be sure." Rouge answered, then when Blaze gave him a look. "Hey, I don't go snooping through his stuff, I have standards you know."

Blaze nodded, pleased with her answer. "That's good."

For a while, they sat in silence, Blaze couldn't really think of what to say or ask. She assumed the only reason Rouge stayed silent is so the feline could collect her thoughts and word them in the right way, that was nice of her.

"...He needs someone in his life." Rouge said softly. "Shadow is one tough man, from what you've said and from the dreams I've heard, he's just got a cage around his emotions, not letting anyone obtain the key to his heart."

"Never pegged you as a poet." Blaze commented, earning a small smile from Rouge.

"Well... I'm not trying to cut this conversation short, but it's been a long day." The bat got up and stretched, to which Blaze did the same. "You have a good night, Blaze."

"You too, night." The feline replied, and they went their separate ways.

Rouge had given Blaze a lot to think over. She decided to take baby-steps, not to mention Maria right away, that would shut him down real quick. Needless to say, the feline had every intention of getting to know the hedgehog better, whether he wanted her to or not. She chuckled at the thought, he would open up to her, she was sure of it. Blaze didn't know why, but she had a feeling that Shadow would trust her as a confidant.

Opening and closing her door behind her, she kicked off her shoes and in a sleepy haze, stumbled to her room and collapsed, cuddling into her pillow and falling fast asleep.

**A/N: Well, what do you think so far?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I hoped you liked the last chapter, here's the second chapter and the end of this story. I hope you enjoy this!**

**I own the storyline, nothing else. The Songs again, belong to their respective artists. The dialogue with Tails and describing the Black Doom DNA belongs to TheWhyteRabbyt and she'll be able to tell which belongs to her and which doesn't.**

**I would also like to give a huge thanks to Whyte, because without her, I probably wouldn't have been able to come up with the ending. Again, thanks for all your help Whyte, hope you enjoy what you helped create :D And I hope all you fans enjoy this fic.**

Rouge yawned, stretching as she sat up from a good night's rest. Slipping on a pair of slippers and pulling on her new pink fuzzy robe, the female bat stood up and headed toward the kitchen, surprised that there was coffee already made and half of it was gone. She gave a small smile, Shadow probably made some.

As she poured herself a cup of coffee, it took all of her willpower to keep her hold on the mug as a rumble shook the house. For a second, she was still half-asleep and wondered what it was, then she remembered. Shadow was training, it was so like him. Sighing, she sipped her coffee as she tried to get it the way she liked it, then when she was satisfied, she began down into the basement that Shadow had converted into a simulation arena. Since they were away from Earth, the hedgehog liked to keep his fighting skills in top condition. The windows were sound proof, Shadow had made it so on Rouge's insistence, so she could have her beauty sleep and he could still train.

-Training increased to level 9,999- Rouge heard and she nearly spat out her coffee, rushing down the rest of the steps to find Shadow covered in sweat and seemed to be panting heavily. As she stepped up to the controller console, she looked at the counter and her eyes widened. He'd been training since he came home last night!

Combichrist's 'Never Surrender' began playing as the holograms began popping up, Shadow eyed them as he eased into his fighting stance, his limbs trembling. Around five hundred Mechs surrounded him. He was really pushing it! As the Mech aimed at Shadow, he disappeared in a small flash of green light. Reappearing standing on another Mech's shoulder, and of course the machine fired at it's ally as Shadow disappeared again. The shot connected and the Mech that was shot fell to the floor and became nothing.

_Self medicating..._

_Craving punishment..._

_Blaming myself for a world on fire..._

_No more shame, no more pity..._

_No more..._

_(They rise from the ashes)_

_I will suffer! I will burn! Let hate prevail!_

_Enslave my soul, but I'll never surrender!_

He reappeared again, snarling as he punched another Mech with such force that he left a large dent. He hooked his fingers underneath the jaw and with a loud yell of effort, he removed the head and leapt up in the air, throwing it toward another Mech. Shoving his hands into the wires from the neck area where the head used to be, he grabbed hold of the wires and a nearby Mech and proceeded to shock both himself and the Mech, then the machine soon broke apart and disappeared. Shadow moved so fast that if you blinked, you would have missed him. He gave a Mech a hard uppercut, knocking it up into the air. He leapt upward toward it, giving a left and right hook, flipkick, and then grabbed it's arm. Spinning in a circle, he threw the machine to the ground, knocking a large group that had just gotten up back down. The Mechs fired at him again, but he dodged them, using his Spin Dash to knock a Mech into three others, he teleported again and didn't reappear. Rouge stared in shock, he'd never been this savage before, never in all the time they'd been working together.

_Silent words from a bleeding mouth..._

_Swallows pride with a swollen tongue..._

_Everything's nothing, life in a shallow grave..._

The song switched to 'Animal I Have Become' by Three Days Grace.

_I can't escape this hell..._

_So many times I've tried..._

_But I'm still caged inside._

_Somebody get me through this nightmare._

_I can't control myself!_

_So what if you can see, the dark inside of me?_

_No one will ever change this animal I have become._

_Help me believe... It's not the real me._

_Somebody help me tame this animal!_

Shadow suddenly reappeared, near the ceiling directly over the Mechs, letting out a scream of fury. As he began spinning wildly, using the Chaos Emeralds to go Super Shadow, the Mechs began firing and the shots bounced off of his spikes. His scream died down as he shot downward to the ground, cratering the floor and knocked all of the Mechs toward the wall, where they collapsed in heaps, disappearing.

Shadow stood with a grin that Rouge had never seen him wear before, his grin was sadistic, as if he were going to go on a killing spree. And if you thought the Mechs counted as killing, they didn't. W-What was going on?

-Training increased to level 10,000-

The bat's eyes nearly bulged out of her head as an uncountable number of Mechs surrounded the hedgehog, and she lost sight of him immediately. More disturbing than that, she heard him laughing.

"Chaos... BLAST!" He yelled, and a super-nova explosion rocked the entire house as Shadow released all of his energy out onto the Mechs. Rouge had to cover her eyes at the force of the light, and when it dimmed, Shadow lay unconscious, the Emeralds strewn around him. Turning off the training simulator, or whatever was left of it, she rushed down toward Shadow and scooped her up into his arms, carrying him back up to his room.

After that, she went back down and gathered up the Emeralds.

-A few hours later-

Shadow groaned, opening his eyes slowly then shut them quickly at the force of the sunlight, growling and pulled the covers over his head. His head hurt hell, speaking of which, he'd pushed it way too hard for training. Wait... he processed it for a minute, how the hell did he get in his bed? Did Rouge find him training and bring him back upstairs? It was a likely possibility. He slowly sat up, the blanket falling into his lap as he slowly opened his eyes to let them adjust to the sunlight. He checked his alarm-clock and it read 4:18 PM, and there was a note attatched to it.

Picking it up he read:

Shadow,

Had to go out for some errands and some shopping. Found you training and you passed out after completing 9,999 levels of training. I know you like training, but it's a bit much to train all night. Even the 'Ultimate Life-Form' needs rest, you know. Well, help yourself to whatever's in the fridge as usual, I'm doing grocery shopping as well. Blaze and I talked last night and she said she wanted to talk to you, so at least put your 'emo-ness' aside and talk to her. She's a real nice girl, if anything else, just see what she wants. See you later, Shads.

Rouge~

The hedgehog shook his head, crumpling up the note and tossed it into his wastebasket, making a mental note to empty it out later, the paper was piling up. Why did Blaze want to talk to him? Was it simply because of his leaving yesterday? They wouldn't have to talk long, all Shadow would have to say was he wanted to go train and that was it.

After a quick shower, Shadow dried himself off and pulled on his shoes, sighing as he felt the familiar weight and pulled on his leather jacket, locking the house as he stepped out. Walking over to the garage, he unlocked it and pulled the door upward, eyeing his motorcycle. Since he hadn't ridden it in quite some time, he decided to take it out today to make sure it was still in working condition. Straddling his prized bike, he turned the key and heard with satisfaction as it roared to life, revving the engine a little just to hear it with a small smirk. Pulling out of the garage, he tugged on the rope on the garage door and pulled it closed. Satisfied that it was secure, he rode out onto the road and toward the local coffee shop.

As he rode on, annoyed that the traffic was getting progressively worse by the day in Big City, his thoughts went back to last night. It sure was a strange coincidence that the song 'Lost' played while Blaze was in his presence, was there some significance to it? And the feeling he got when she was near him... it felt... strange. Shadow snorted, he wasn't supposed to feel anything. He was the ultimate Life-Form! He shouldn't be bothered by petty emotions...

His grip tightened on the handles of his motorcycle as he swerved through the traffic as another thought came to him: What would Maria think? Of course... if she were here, maybe, just maybe things would have turned out different.

No...

His grip tightened even more, to the point where he had to calm himself or else he'd break his bike.

Shadow knew for a fact that things would have turned out a LOT different if Maria were still alive. His eyes shut tight for a brief second as Shadow tried to repress the memories he had of Maria's final moments, when he opened his eyes, he cluctched the breaks, not realizing there was a red light. He had stopped too late however, as his skid past the white line, the front of his motorcycle collided with the hood of a car and he went flying. The hedgehog normally would have righted himself to land on his feet, but he had been so distraught at thinking up the past and those feelings from last night, he was caught completely off guard.

His head smashed into the road face first and he rolled to a stop on his back, his vision going blurry and he hurt all over. Tasting blood in his mouth, his vision started to go dark as he began passing out. Right before he did however, he saw a figure kneeling next to him, scooping him up into their arms. He looked at them and tried to discern who it was. She had gentle hands...

"...Maria?" He asked softly, then he closed his eyes and everything went black.

_-Flash-_

_"...Shadow..."_

_"...Shadow... Time to get up..."_

_The hedgehog slowly opened his eyes, greeted with only pure white. Then, as he blinked again, he lay in a lush forest where the sun was shining brightly. Despite the intensity of the sun, it didn't blind him, and neither did it give off excessive heat. Wisps of clouds were strewn about in the sky, which was also dyed a deep blue. Birds chirped and skittered about the grass, looking for worms others for twigs to build a nest. Squirrels scurried and claimed acorns and fought over a small pile and climbed the trees to their homes._

_There was only one word to describe this place: Perfect._

_It was so peaceful. The trees were a perfect height, offered nice shade... But..._

_Where was he exactly?_

_"Shadow..."_

_He looked around as he heard the gentle call of his name, turning around, he could see a girl in the distance. She looked familiar, was it possible that that was...? Mouth agape, he began running toward the girl who stood still, smiling. He was getting closer, enough to make out the more distinguished features. Sapphire eyes, honey blond hair, that smile... _

_It was Maria..._

_He stopped in front of her panting, another thought hit him. Was he dead?_

_Maria shook her head, as if reading his thoughts. "You're not dead. Just... ah... near death experience."_

_"But..." Shadow said quietly, taking her hand. She gave his a gentle squeeze, to which Shadow began to feel tears in his eyes. "What... I mean..."_

_He couldn't even form a coherent sentence. Maria continued to have her smile, though her eyes were sad. "Let's walk, Shadow..."_

_Keeping a tight hold on her hand, for fear if he would let go she would disappear, Shadow was led to a waterfall where a small lake lay. Smoothing her white dress, she took a seat on the bank, prompting Shadow to do the same. He did so, never breaking eye contact with her. It was strange, she was here, solid flesh and blood. But... wait, this didn't add up..._

_"I can tell you have a lot of questions. We have time, ask away." Maria told him._

_"...Where are we?" Shadow asked._

_"Inbetween, not quite Heaven, but not quite Earth." Maria replied._

_"And... why are you here? Shouldn't you be..." Shadow was unable to finish, looking at the water._

_"When someone comes to the Inbetween, they are greeted by all of those who are in Heaven waiting for them. And..." Maria's eyes cast to the water as Shadow looked at her, her smile disappearing. "You have to make a choice."_

_"A choice?" Shadow repeated. "What kind of choice?"_

_Maria looked into his eyes. "Do you want to go back? Or do you want to come to Heaven with me?"_

_Shadow's own eyes widened. This was a really tough decision to make, after everything that had happened with Sonic and the others even though he didn't show it, he'd grown quite used to their presence. Even the blue idiot._

_"I know it's a hard decision. Shadow I only want one thing." Maria said to him, and he nodded. "I only ask that you don't make the decision for me, I want you to make the decision for you, I want you to listen to your heart and do what it tells you."_

_"...I want you to live your life, and be happy." She rested her hand on his cheek, smiling again. "Never forget, no matter what, I've always loved you. You're my best friend."_

_"...I'm immortal, I should go with you and finally be at peace." Shadow reasoned, and Maria shook her head._

_"Live your life." Maria said, starting to fade._

_"No! Please! Don't leave me alone again!" Shadow pleaded, reaching out, but his his hand only brushed on air._

_"...I'm always in your heart." Maria said softly, fading away into nothingness. _

All that was left behind was a small crystal, fashioned into a diamond of shape and it was a deep amethyst. Shadow picked it up, examining it in his right palm and then a light filled his eyes and he was in a hospital bed, an oxygen mask was around his mouth and his head was bandaged. His left arm had a cast from the elbow down. His gloves and shoes were removed, probably due to being in the hospital bed. The hedgehog was never really in an actual hospital before, so the procedures were foreign to him. A Doctor and Nurse doing the, he assumed, regular procedures, apparently his heart had stopped.

"He's stabilized..." The Doctor told the nurse.

"Thank the Sol Emeralds..." Shadow heard and he craned his neck to look up and saw Blaze, Sonic and Tails. After checking his vitals one last time, they left him to file the proper reports or whatever it was that they did. Unclenching his hand, Shadow saw the crystal from Maria was still in his hand. So it wasn't a dream afterall, he set the crystal down on the nightstand and tried to sit up. Blaze was at his side in an instant to help, adjusting the pillows so he could sit up.

"...How are you feeling?" Blaze asked him softly.

Shadow didn't answer, looking down.

"Shadow..." Blaze said quietly, resting her hand on his. "What happened?"

"Shouldn't my wounds have healed by now?" Shadow asked aloud, and as he looked up he saw Tails fidgeting nervously. "What did you do to me this time, Fox?"

"Uh... well..." Tails began nervously, looking at the floor as he tried to collect his thoughts. "Okay, first off, you have normal hedgehog DNA under all that genetically-altered nonsense. Picture your DNA as your hands. The thing that really made you immortal was Black Doom's DNA layered over your own, like a glove. Sure, some of it got mixed in with yours... but the only real thing that was separate any more was the immortality. Sort of like armor, when you think about it."

"...Get to the point, Tails." Shadow growled, losing his patience.

"Sorry. Anyway, remember last week? That big battle we had with Eggman? Well, when you broke into the main power source of Eggman's base, going down that long hallway with the microwaves caused some internal damage to you. It healed up due to the Black Doom DNA, however right as you broke through the radiation waves, you reached the power source RIGHT as the radiation dislodged the casing of Black Doom's DNA from your own." Tails answered.

"And... that means...?" Shadow frowned.

"That's why it took you a while to recover like all of us, since the wounds you obtained were after the radiation. When I ran the blood tests and checked your condition, I saw no traces of Black Doom's DNA. Full red blood cells, his DNA is gone completely. Shadow, you're just like the rest of us now. You age." Tails told him, and the room went deathly silent as the heart rate monitor picked up speed.

"That's... what she meant..." Shadow said quietly, looking down at the amethyst crystal, then looked up, locking eyes with Blaze. She gazed back at him with a curious expression until the hedgehog looked away, finding sudden interest in his hands. "...Could... Blaze and I have a minute alone, please?"

If Sonic and Tails were surprised at his request, and at him using the word 'Please', they didn't show it. They nodded and left the hedgehog and feline alone, not really sure what to do, Blaze took a chair and sat next to the bed. Unable to look into his eyes, she focused on the crystal.

"...That's pretty." She commented, and Shadow nodded. "What..."

She swallowed, and Shadow offered her the drink on his nightstand. Blaze accepted it with a quiet 'Thanks' and took a few gulps, swallowing again.

"What did you want to talk about?" Blaze asked him.

"Rouge said you wanted to talk to me." Shadow told her.

"I did?" Blaze repeated, finally looking into his eyes with confusion. Then her expression changed to embarrassment when Shadow raised an eyebrow. "Y-Yeah, I did."

"What about?" Shadow asked, and Blaze was surprised at the note of softness in his voice. He seemed... more at peace, the hedgehog appeared to be more relaxed than she had seen him in all the time they'd worked together.

"Well... last night..." Blaze began, then stopped, not sure how to continue. Shadow looked at her expectantly, keeping quiet out of respect so she could form her thoughts into a sentence. "When we talked, if it could even be considered a conversation... I realized something."

"Oh?" Shadow frowned.

"I barely know you." Blaze replied, staring into his eyes. "And I want to know you. I... I want to know everything about you, if you'd let me. Ever since last night, I've been thinking of you. I can't get you out of my mind, no matter how hard I try. No matter what I think of, my thoughts always go back to you. I've listened to that song from last night over and over. I... I... just..."

Blaze looked at the floor, her face going pink. "...You must think I'm making a fool of myself, don't you?"

"No." Shadow replied honestly. "Did Rouge tell you about me training?"

"All through the night, yeah, we met up at the coffeeshop by chance and started talking." Blaze answered.

"I was training to exhaustion because I couldn't get you out of my mind either." Shadow told her, and the feline's eyes widened. "I blared music, I fought until my body was screaming for me to stop... but no matter what I fought, no matter what I listened to, like you said... everything always lead back to you."

It was silent for a few minutes. Both of them unsure of what to say, however it was Blaze that broke the silence.

"...Will you allow me to get to know you?" She asked him, looking into his eyes. Shadow moved his good hand and gently laid it on hers, Blaze accepted the gesture and tightened her hold on his hand.

"Yes..." Shadow nodded. "Whatever you want to know, I'll tell you. Because I..."

He stopped, not sure how to word his sentence as his cheeks turned red a little, which Blaze smiled. "You know... I like your smile."

The hedgehog smiled a bit, the first genuine one in a long time. "...And I like yours."

"SHUT UP AND KISS ALREADY!" They heard Sonic from the other side of the closed door. "OW!" apparently Tails must have hit him upside the head.

"...When I recover, I am going to kick his ass so hard." Shadow growled, and Blaze blushed a deep red. "Blaze..."

She turned her head to face him and Shadow lightly touched her cheek, surprised by his gesture, the feline slowly placed her hand on his, eyes wide.

"I-I just want to thank you." he told her.

"For what?" Blaze asked, genuinely confused.

"For caring. For not giving up on me. You could have left me alone, dismissed your curiosity in me, but you didn't. I want to thank you for everything." Shadow replied. "As you know, my nickname among the group is 'Shadow the Emohog." They shared a chuckle. "But you... tell me, when you look at me, what do you see?"

Blaze took a deep breath, repeating her thoughts about him from last night. "I knew full well that despite how tough you tried to make yourself appear, there were cracks. Underneath the hardened exterior lay a heart, you just guarded it so well. There was something giving you pain, I wanted to know what it was. Not so I could exploit you for being what you would have considered 'a weakness', but so I could help you through whatever it was that hurting you. If anything at all really was."

"I'm rambling, sorry." Blaze apologized.

"It's fine, go on." Shadow replied, thoroughly interested.

She took a deep breath. "When I look at Shadow the Hedgehog, I see someone who considers himself a loner, but in reality, wants someone to be close to them. You are the man that wants to be accepted, despite your past, despite who they think you are, for they do not know the true you. You desperately want a place in life, a place where you can be the true you and be free from criticisms. You want to live a life of happiness, but you are not sure about how exactly you should come about finding this life. And what I think, is that you want someone... to love you."

Blaze went silent when Shadow stared at her, both of their cheeks turning red. "...T-That's what I think, I might be wrong on some of that but... I-"

She cut herself off when Shadow squeezed her hand to get her attention. "You're right, Blaze. About all of it."

"...I am?" She said, surprised. The hedgehog nodded.

"If it's alright with you, I'd... like to talk to you more. See where you and I will go in life." Shadow said quietly.

"You mean like... friendship-wise or... dating...?" Blaze squeaked out, her voice failing her.

"...Both." Shadow answered. "Don't get me wrong, you're a really nice girl and all. But... I want to take everything slow. This is all so new to me, how about as soon as I get out of this hospital, I take you out for dinner. We can talk about... an... 'us' then."

"I'd love to. And I'll be here every day till you get better." Blaze replied, smiling. "I won't leave your side... until you get sick of me."

They shared a laugh and Shadow told her: "That will never happen."

"If it's alright with you... could I try something?" Shadow asked her and Blaze nodded nervously.

Shadow put his hand on her waist, bringing her closer and brought Blaze into a hug. The feline went still for a minute then relaxed and hugged back gently, she purred deep in her throat and the hedgehog smiled. Blaze closed her eyes and nuzzled his neck gently.

"...You're comfortable." Blaze said quietly.

"Thanks." Shadow smiled back. "I... well... I guess we should let the others in, huh?"

"They can wait for a little bit longer." Blaze replied, nuzzling him again. "Tell me about yourself."

Shadow chuckled softly and began telling her everything, leaving nothing out and giving her his full life story. Blaze lay there quietly, listening and asked a question or two every so often, but mostly kept quiet to listen. The more Shadow talked, the more at ease he felt, and having Blaze there listening to him and commenting here and there on his story, he felt... happier than he had been in a long time. When he finally finished his story, Blaze lay there for a long time as she processed all of this.

"So... Maria really came to you when you had that near death experience?" Blaze asked, and Shadow nodded.

"When she faded away, this is all that was left." Shadow replied, holding up the amethyst crystal. Smiling at her, he poked her nose playfully. "So... your turn."

"Well... You already know I'm the Princess of the Sol Dimension. And you also know I have pyrokinesis." Blaze told him.

"So that's why my tail had spontaneously combusted last week." Shadow said with a hint of sarcasm, and the feline giggled.

"Maybe." She smiled. "And-"

"...Hang on." Shadow frowned. "You're a Princess and all that royalty and stuff."

"Yeah..." Blaze said slowly. "What are you getting at?"

"...We can't be anything more than just friends." Shadow said, his frown deepening. "You have responsibilities in the Sol Dimension."

Blaze started smiling but Shadow continued. "And I've got responsibilities here protecting the Mobians and Earth from Eggman or whatever else comes this way to bring harm. Also-"

He was cut off by the feline putting a finger to his lips, Shadow's cheeks burned red slightly. "Shh... The Sol Dimension isn't as strict as you might think, unlike those strict rules and regulations you would hear in most stories or TV shows, the Sol Dimension is very... how to say... lenient on who rules it, you don't have to be of noble birth to rule the Sol Dimension, you just have to have really good morals. I will still have responsibilities of protecting the Sol Emeralds, though. We're both really strong, so I think the people will have no problem with you becoming a Guardian as well. In fact, I think with your powers, they would strongly recommend you becoming a Guardian."

"But in order to be with you... I will have to train the next ruler, and that will be no simple task. There's the fact that they need to learn all of the proper requirements, the proper etiquettes... And then there's the fact that we must hold an election... All in all, the process takes the better part of give or take six months to a year. Maybe longer or shorter, depending on how slow or fast everything goes and how fast or slow of a learner the candidate is. Not only that, but the Sol Council needs to approve of the new candidate as well." Blaze looked into Shadow's eyes, smiling sadly. "Are you sure you could take being able to wait that long? I mean, you can come and visit from time to time... but I will mostly be busy."

Shadow gave a smile, stroking her furred cheek. "You're worth it. And yes, I will be willing to wait that long, I'll visit as often as I can."

"We still up for dinner when you get out of here?" Blaze asked.

"Are you still up for staying by my side until I get better?" Shadow replied.

"Of course." Blaze answered.

"Then there's your answer." Shadow gave a sly smirk and Blaze smiled widely and hugged him again. "A-Ah ow, careful of my arm."

"Sorry." Blaze said, shifting so she wasn't putting pressure on his arm.

-2 Weeks Later-

Shadow and Blaze stood on the hilltop with the stone bench just off the trail that lead to Sonic's house. The feline already said goodbye to the rest of their friends and both she and Shadow wanted some time alone before the feline had to leave. Shadow had actually gotten out of the hospital a week ago, he and Blaze actually delayed her going back to the Sol Dimension for that dinner date and spending the rest of the week together, needless to say they both enjoyed it and eachother's presence immensely. They stood atop the hill, holding hands and gazed at the city as twilight cast over it.

"This past week..." Blaze began, resting her head on his shoulder. "Has probably been the best week in my entire life."

"Same here." Shadow agreed, turning to face her as he took both of her hands in his. "You've made me feel happier than I've ever felt in a long long time."

Blaze smiled, blushing lightly. "Thanks for opening up to me, Shadow. I'm glad we got to know eachother, and more so that you gave me a chance."

"I honestly can't imagine being happy with anyone else but you." The hedgehog smiled. "In fact, no one else has ever made me this happy."

"What about Maria?" Blaze tilted her head.

"I meant romantically." Shadow chuckled and Blaze smiled.

"Well now I feel stupid." She giggled.

"Never..." Shadow said, bringing her into a hug.

Blaze sighed and melted into his embrace, snuggling into him as they just stood there, enjoying eachother's company. Shadow gently stroked her back, making the feline purr deep in her throat, while Blaze simply closed her eyes and listened to the hedgehog's steady heartbeat. They both knew that after today, they wouldn't be able to be together for a while, so Shadow made an oath that no matter what happened, his heart always belonged to her and that he would wait for her.

"...I have something for you." Shadow said, and Blaze lifted her head to look into his eyes, amber meeting ruby.

Shadow broke the embrace to walk over to his knapsack that he brought with them and rummaged through it and brought out a small black box. Blaze's eyes widened as he offered it to her, with shaky hands, she accepted the box and slowly opened it. Inside, in a deep violet satin cloth, lay a necklace. But not just any ordinary necklace...

"I made it myself, after our first date." Shadow said quietly, his face engulfed in a blush.

It was the amethyst crystal Maria left behind for Shadow, the necklace consisted of the crystal being held on the chain by wrought silver that encircled it. A slightly thick strand of silver curled from the bottom and rested in the middle of the crystal to form a heart, for lack of a better term, it was the most beautiful necklace Blaze had ever seen. Shadow unclasped the hook and helped the feline put it on, clasping the hook back and stepped back to admire the feline.

"You look even more beautiful now. Hell, no matter what, you're always beautiful." Shadow commented, and Blaze blushed deeper.

"It's a beautiful necklace. But why are you giving it to me?" She asked.

"So you have something to remember me by." Shadow answered, and Blaze shook her head. "What?"

Blaze stepped up to him, putting a hand to his chest, right over his heart. "I would never ever forget you. This..." She patted his chest where his heart lay. "Is mine, I could never forget you. And this..." She took his hand, placing it on her own heart. "Will always be yours. No suitor nor anyone else in this world or dimension will take that from you, of that I promise."

Shadow smiled.

"Just promise me that YOU won't forget me." Blaze said, trailing her fingers from his chest, up his neck and rested her hand on his cheek, the hedgehog placed his hand over hers, smiling.

"As if I could forget." He replied. "I'll wait for you, I promise that."

Blaze, satisfied with his answer, leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. Pulling back, Shadow's expression reflected her own, sadness, yet affectionate that they would see eachother again. As Blaze began to turn away, Shadow grabbed her arm, pulling her into his own and captured her lips in his own in a deep kiss. Blaze was stunned by the sudden action, but made no move to pull away, instead, her hands rested on his chest as she kissed back and her eyes slowly closed. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing back with equal passion and they both pulled back for air, both of them having red faces as they stared into eachother's eyes.

"...I'll be back for you as soon as I can, I promise Shadow." Blaze whispered to him.

"And I'll be here on this hill waiting for you when you do come back." Shadow whispered back.

Reluctantly, they broke the embrace and Shadow backed up, keeping her hands in his, then slowly let go as Blaze opened up a portal to the Sol Dimension. The feline turned and began walking toward the portal but then stopped right before she entered it, looking back at the hedgehog with a small smile.

"Be a good boy." She teased lightly.

Shadow chuckled. "I'm only a 'good' boy for you." He winked, earning a laugh from Blaze.

With that small exchange, Blaze took a deep breath and stepped through the portal which disappeared, cutting off Shadow's view of Blaze for a long time. Shadow sighed heavily, sitting down on the stone bench as he ran the past week over his mind, smiling at the time they spent together. True to what they said, it was the best week either of them spent in a long long time. When they really got to talking, they found out they were alike in many ways and they enjoyed eachother's company a lot. After the dates, each were very well sure they had found their soul mate.

Shadow looked up at the sky, smiling. "Well... Thank you Maria. I'm glad I'm finally able to live my life..."

Through the whispers of the wind, he could hear five faint words: _"I'm always in your heart..."_

**A/N: And... that's the end of this story. What did you all think? I am still brainstorming a sequel, so stay tuned! R&R comments and praise are welcome, but please no flames.**


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